GET REEL: Casting a vote for political thrillers

Sunday

To say we live in contentious political times right now would be an understatement along the lines of calling the sun’s surface toasty.

Whether you swing from the right or left side, you might find some common ground with your opposite number at the movies when the subject is the political thriller.

Of course, some political thrillers do lean one way more than the other, but the more important factor, in this scribe’s opinion, is whether they provide the prerequisite amount of thrills. Otherwise, the film is just a cinematic sermon. I’d be willing to wager that most people rate their favorite political thrillers not based on politics but on thrills, too. In other words, were they superglued to their seats? Were their knuckles turning a brighter shade of white? Or were they at least intrigued?

Listed below, in alphabetical order, are 10 of my favorite political thrillers. They may not all be the greatest political thrillers in the history of the genre, and by limiting my list to 10, I know I’m leaving off many classics, but, hey, there’s only so much room on this ballot.

“ALL THE PRESIDENT’S MEN” (1976) – I suppose if you’re a diehard Richard Nixon fan, this film might not get your vote, but there’s no denying that Watergate has become part of the American cultural landscape. Nearly every scandal these days gets suffixed with the word “gate,” and this scandal rates at the top.

The film follows Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward (Robert Redford) and Carl Bernstein (Dustin Hoffman) as they doggedly pursue leads that will eventually uncover some serious shenanigans in the White House. By comparison, “The Post” is political thriller-lite.

“All the President’s Men” won Oscars for best supporting actor (Jason Robards) and best adapted screenplay (William Goldman) and received nominations for best picture, best director (Alan J. Pakula) and best supporting actress (Jane Alexander). Who knows how many careers in investigative journalism this film inspired.

“ARGO” (2012) – This movie probably didn’t wow the mullahs in Iran, but it scored with audiences, critics and the Oscar folks here.

File this film under stranger than fiction as the film tells the true story of how a CIA operative Tony Mendez (Ben Affleck) led the rescue of six U.S. diplomats from Tehran during the Iran hostage crisis under the guise of filming a science-fiction film. Hollywood wouldn’t have bought a script based on that scenario.

Watching how Mendez and crew actually pull this off is fascinating and, yes, thrilling as the stakes are skyhigh. Let's just say the Iranians would have done more than pan the film had it been discovered to be a hoax. We’re talking about a different kind of execution.

The film won Oscars for best picture and best adapted screenplay (Chris Terrio) and received a best supporting actor nomination for scene-stealer supreme Alan Arkin.

Affleck also directed the movie, which we should point out did take some “artistic liberties” with the story.

“THE DAY OF THE JACKAL” (1973) – Not every assassin simply shows up at a location where his target is and pulls the trigger. Take, for example, the assassin here, code name the Jackal (Edward Fox). Hired to assassinate French president Charles de Gaulle, he plans this assignment with meticulous and nefarious aplomb.

Deputy Police Commissioner Claude Lebel (Michel Lonsdale) tries to thwart the Jackal, setting off a cat-and-mouse game, which can best be described as - wait for it - thrilling.

The film’s European locations add to the viewing pleasure. And it doesn’t hurt to have four-time Oscar winner Fred Zinnemann directing.

“THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER” (1990) – Before Alec Baldwin became famous in this century imitating President Trump, he acted in movies in the previous century and this is one of his better efforts, playing CIA analyst Jack Ryan, who gets to match wits with Soviet submarine captain Marko Ramius (Sean Connery) in a Cold War clash.

Does Ramius intend to launch a nuclear strike at the United States or does he simply want to defect? If it’s the former, America would get heavy dose of radioactivity. And if it’s the latter, the Soviets would lose face and a powerful weapon. Considering these risks, it would be easier for both sides to just take Raimus out. And here’s where Ryan comes in.

The film is based on a novel by Tom Clancy, who made a career of penning espionage thrillers. Ryan would appear in more Clancy novels and films where he was played most memorably by Harrison Ford.

“Hunt” was directed by John McTiernan, whose resume includes two “Die Hard” films. “Hunt” also benefits from a strong supporting cast, including Scott Glenn, James Earl Jones and Sam Neill. The movie won an Oscar for best effects.

“IN THE LINE OF FIRE” (1993) – Continuing the assassin theme, in this film, a former CIA agent with a few mental health issues (a wonderfully deranged John Malkovich) decides to try to kill the president of the United States. In his way is Secret Service agent Frank Horrigan (Clint Eastwood), who has issues of his own as he was a Secret Service agent in Dallas when President Kennedy was assassinated.

Another cat-and-mouse game ensues, but this one gets a little personal.

Wolfgang Petersen directed the film, which earned Oscar nominations for Malkovich as best supporting actor and Jeff Maguire as screenwriter. According to Wikipedia, Maguire was in debt to his relatives and about to have his utilities turned off when his script entered a bidding war involving Tom Cruise, Sean Connery and Eastwood.

“THE LIVES OF OTHERS” (2006) - This German movie, which won the Oscar as best foreign language film, demonstrates how joyful it must have been to live in Berlin back when the Stasi, the East German secret police, turned spying on its own people into an art form – a very ugly art form.

Here, a Stasi official, Gerd Weisler (Ulrich Muhe), is told to spy on playwright Georg Dreyman (Sebastian Koch). As he goes about his clandestine duties, Weisler discovers why he’s “monitoring” Dreyman. The minister of culture covets Dreyman’s girlfriend and would prefer that Dreyman exit the picture. What’s a Stasi stalwart to do?

“Lives” marked the directorial debut of Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, who also wrote the script. The film was lauded for its authenticity, even though the director grew up in West Germany and was only 16 when the Berlin Wall fell. He would later direct “The Tourist,” an English-language thriller starring Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt.

“THE MANCHURIAN CANDIDATE” (1962) – The Cold War doesn’t get any frostier than in this John Frankenheimer film where a brainwashed military officer (Laurence Harvey) becomes an unwitting assassin under the thumb of his Machiavellian mother (Angela Lansbury). Stuck in the middle is a fellow soldier (Frank Sinatra), who has his own problems with strangers in the night - dooby, dooby, do.

Just look out for that Queen of Diamonds.

Lansbury, who traditionally plays “nice people,” is decidedly not nice here. Congruity sticklers like to point out that Lansbury, in real life, was only three years older than Harvey. Call that Mommie Youngest.

The 2004 remake stars Denzel Washington, Liev Schreiber and Meryl Streep. I prefer the harder-hitting original, though the congruity police will note that Streep is 18 years older than Schreiber in real life and thus could be his mother.

“NO WAY OUT” (1987) – A remake of the 1948 film “The Big Clock,” this is one of my favorites. The plot involves national security, romance, a mysterious KBG agent, murder and more twists than you’ll find in a pretzel factory.

Directed by Roger Donaldson, the film stars Kevin Costner, Gene Hackman and Sean Young, not be confused with Sean Penn.

If you can see where this film is going, you deserve a Sherlock Holmes meerschaum.

“SYRIANA” (2005) – To try to describe this film’s labyrinthine plot would take awhile. Let’s just say that oil greases a few palms and a few palms get slapped during the course of the movie.

The film won George Clooney a well-deserved Oscar as best supporting actor for playing a CIA field officer who runs into all kinds of trouble. The script by Stephen Gaghan, who also directed, received an Oscar nomination.

The superb cast includes Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright, Chris Cooper, William Hurt, Tim Blake Nelson and Christopher Plummer as the Beaver. OK, he doesn’t play the Beaver. He plays a lawyer. There’s a difference?

“THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR” (1975) – Protagonists in thrillers typically know the score when manure hits the fan or at least are trained to deal with malodorous situations. Joe Turner (Robert Redford) is not one of those protagonists.

He’s a low-level CIA researcher who spends his days reading publications looking for hidden meanings. One day he ships a report to headquarters about a thriller (irony alert) and waits for the response. He then goes out to get lunch and when he returns all his colleagues have been murdered. Probably not the response he was expecting.

Scared witless, Joe spends the rest of the movie trying to figure out what’s going on without getting killed. In the meantime, he hides out in a woman’s apartment. Unfortunately, the woman (Faye Dunaway) doesn’t want him there.

The credulity police may wonder how Joe keeps eluding his would-be killers, but he was trained as a technician and those skills serve him well.

Directed by Sydney Pollack, the film features Cliff Robertson and Max von Sydow – both are excellent, especially the latter who plays the assassin Joubert, who relentlessly tries to track down our hero. I’m sure any correlation to Javert, the police inspector who relentlessly tries to track down the hero in “Les Miserables,” is a coincidence.

The film is based on the James Grady novel “Six Days of the Condor,” which begs the question of what happened to those three days? Well, the film does take a few of those “liberties” with the book.

FYI, Pollack and Redford had worked together before in “This Property Is Condemned,” “Jeremiah Johnson” and “The Way We Were.” They would work together again afterward in “The Electric Horseman,” “Out of Africa” and “Havana.”

Last month’s tester: This film, known for its use of profanity, was nominated for three Oscars: best actor, best supporting actor and best screenplay. Clue: An actor cast to play one of the three major roles backed out of the film after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Answer: "The Last Detail."

No one answered the question correctly.

This month's tester: This actor received two Oscar nominations and was a decorated soldier. Clue: He worked as a professional ballroom dancer while pursuing an acting career. Another clue: He was nominated for four Golden Globe awards, winning once.

The first reader to answer the question correctly will receive a prize.

Trivia enthusiasts can call me at 508-626-4409 or email me at rtremblay@wickedlocal.com. Make sure you leave your name, address and phone number on my message machine or email so I can contact you if you answered the question correctly. The address is needed so winners can be mailed their prize. Callers should spell out their names slowly and clearly so their names will be spelled correctly in the column.